KANSAS CITY, Kan.—The San Jose Earthquakes have scored 22 times in the final 15 minutes of a game this season, with an astonishing nine of those goals coming in second-half stoppage time.

There isn’t much that rattles the league leaders, and U.S. national team coach Jurgen Klinsmann surely was counting on that composure when he sent San Jose forward Alan Gordon onto the saturated Sir Vivian Richards Stadium field late in Friday’s tied World Cup qualifier against Antigua and Barbuda.

Gordon, 30, never had played for his country. But his season with San Jose suggested that 17 minutes was more than enough time to overcome any nerves and conjure some of the Earthquakes’ “Goonies never say die” magic.

“This year in San Jose, we’ve had a lot of those situations, which was good for me,” Gordon told Sporting News on Monday. “It was nothing new to me. I came in, and it was like business as usual. I came in and came through in a big way.”

In the 90th minute, the 6-3 Gordon floated an elegant, first-time cross, the sort one might expect from a skillful 5-8 playmaker, toward the left post. Eddie Johnson was wide open and waiting. The Seattle Sounders forward—making his first U.S. appearance in two years—headed home the goal that lifted the Americans to a crucial 2-1 win.

Now, instead of facing a must-win situation in Tuesday night’s qualifier vs. Guatemala here at Livestrong Sporting Park (7 p.m. ET, ESPN2), the U.S. (3-1-1) needs only a draw to move into next year’s final round. It can even advance with a loss. That cushion comes thanks to two unlikely MLS players, who along with local Sporting Kansas City hero Graham Zusi (who set up Johnson’s opener in Antigua) have carried the flag for their occasionally maligned league when their country needed it most.

There have been signs here and there during Klinsmann’s 14 months in charge that his opinion of MLS could be higher. His rosters typically have featured five or fewer field players based in the domestic league, and the German World Cup winner hasn’t been shy about expressing his respect for those who compete at the highest levels abroad. Last winter, he helped several MLS players arrange training stints in Europe, which some interpreted as an effort to pave the way for permanent transfers.

MLS commissioner Don Garber told Sporting News recently that it isn’t Klinsmann’s job to make the league look good.

“I don’t think MLS players should get picked because they’re playing in our league. They should get picked because they deserve to be picked,” Garber said. “He’s got to qualify our guys for the World Cup and hopefully get as far as they can and maybe even win. And he needs the best possible team to do that. If those players are in MLS, he’s going to pick them. If they’re not in MLS, he’s not.”

Friday night’s slog in Antigua didn’t demonstrate that MLS players are more talented than those based in Europe or Mexico, but it did send a strong signal that the domestic league can adequately prepare the likes of Johnson, Gordon, Zusi and defender Geoff Cameron—who’s now at England’s Stoke City but who started for the U.S. while still a member of the Houston Dynamo—for the adversity of international competition.

“If you’re in the right environment in MLS, I believe you can develop,” said U.S. captain Carlos Bocanegra, who played for the Chicago Fire before heading to Europe. “You take a guy who’s playing week-in and week-out and has loads of confidence and is scoring goals for his team, that’s what we want coming in here. You’ve got an example in a guy like Graham Zusi—came in, had a great cross with his left foot and set up our first goal. He’s playing week-in, week-out in MLS, has lots of confidence and fits right in with this team.”

Zusi, 26, made his U.S. debut in January following a camp that tends to include more MLS players because most European circuits are in season. Klinsmann liked what he saw in the technically sound, mobile attacker (including the winning goal against Panama), brought him back into the fold for the August exhibition in Mexico and then started him in last month’s crucial qualifier vs. Jamaica.

At Sporting Kansas City, Zusi is a key cog in coach Peter Vermes’ physical, high-pressure system that seeks to put opponents under duress. Klinsmann believes in similar principles and was confident the University of Maryland product, who leads MLS with 15 assists, could make the transition.

“You try always to identify the different levels of play in different places and leagues and competitions, but you’re looking at the individual talent of player,” said Klinsmann, who keeps close track of players throughout MLS. “You see where he’s improving and where he’s growing to a point where you have the feeling that it would be a good moment to call him in and introduce him to the senior national team level. You get most of the information from the club coach. This is really the base for the player.”

Like Zusi, Gordon (13 MLS goals) and Johnson (14), have been critical to their clubs. They are accustomed to producing under pressure, to being hunted by the opposing team’s defense and to forging chemistry with talented strike partners.

According to Johnson, MLS has become a worthy environment for national team prospects.

“This league is a lot better than it was when I left (for England) four years ago,” he said. “It has developed over the years. Those rivalry games like Seattle and Portland, with 67,000 (fans), I think by every game meaning so much and playing in a league where it’s growing, I think it helped us domestic players to be able to provide a solution in a difficult game, an important game. Like Alan, he’s been in a team that’s been scoring a lot of goals late and he has that hunger and that winning mentality, and I’m a guy still trying to prove himself, still trying to score goals at the highest level.”

Several U.S. players agreed that the standards by which MLS and foreign-based players are judged might differ. Starting for a big European club might draw Klinsmann’s eye overseas, but only a dominant performance in MLS will bring his attention stateside. Even if that’s the case, there’s still an opportunity for MLS players to make the jump, and Friday night proved that once in camp, anyone might see the field and contribute in a crucial situation.

“Absolutely” there’s a higher standard, said forward Herculez Gomez, who spent five years in MLS before heading to Mexico. “But it goes both ways. You’re in MLS, you’re getting seen week-in, week-out. That’s a great opportunity. It’s also a drawback—they don’t see your mistakes sometimes (playing in foreign leagues). But that can be a huge opportunity that’s in your favor. Some of us that are abroad, I was waiting a year and a half for my chance. I wasn’t getting coaches flying out every week or having the opportunity to see me every weekend. It’s not like I was in their back yard.”

Following Zusi’s quality performance against Jamaica in last month’s 1-0 win in Columbus, Gomez said, “If guys in MLS don’t see Graham getting a look and making an impact and seeing that as an opportunity, I don’t know what they’re thinking. I think Jurgen’s shown that everybody has a chance to play for this team as long as you can be an integral part of it, do your part and bring that effort.”

Klinsmann echoed that on Monday. He wants players who have skill, for sure, but he also has been clear from the beginning that he’s after the right intangibles. He’s partial to players who are committed to the cause, are hungry to succeed and have a relentless desire to improve. He wants leaders and athletes who are comfortable in the clutch. MLS, while far from perfect, gives more American players that opportunity by putting them in key roles. Alan Gordon may not be a household name, but he handled the pressure of Friday night’s qualifier like someone who’d been there before.

“No matter if he plays in MLS or he plays in a league overseas, how consistent is he really in his club? How does he stand out in his club team to do certain things,” Klinsmann said. “At the end of the day, we want our national team players to be leaders in their club teams.”